


Inter-dimensional Miracles

by heartsdesire456



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Falling In Love, Fluff, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 02:37:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5522297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsdesire456/pseuds/heartsdesire456
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Going through the portal does something to Fitz that allows something very, very unexpected to happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inter-dimensional Miracles

**Author's Note:**

> I started this forever and a half ago, and I honestly just finished it because I've had the WORST writers block since NaNo ended (so nearly a fucking month) and I just HAD to finish SOMETHING!
> 
> Hopefully you'll like it.

“THERE’S A FETUS WHERE?!”

Daisy lifted her head, looking towards the lab with a raised eyebrow. She looked back at Mack, who shrugged. “Guess Simmons is back to dissecting fetal pigs and storing them in Fitz’s area,” he said, chuckling fondly. “He’s squeamish for a scientist.”

Daisy made a face. “I wouldn’t want a pig fetus near my stuff either.”

“Fitz- FITZ! FITZ?!” Mack and Daisy looked at each other and tensed just before Simmons shouted again. “SOMEONE HELP ME!”

They scrambled up and rushed down the hall. When they rounded the corner, Daisy’s eyes widened when she saw Fitz laid out on the floor and Simmons kneeling. “Fitz!” Mack cried as he and Daisy ran over. “What happened?”

Simmons directed them to pick him up and carry him to one of the exam tables. “He was yelling and he just collapsed. I think he’s fainted,” she said, hooking monitors up to him. “He’s had a bit of a shock, but-“

“What shock?” Daisy asked worriedly.

Simmons bit her lip, looking down at Fitz then back. “It’s- it’s something I can only assume…” She fixed an oxygen monitor to his finger and then deflated. “It has to be my fault. It has to be from the portal, he-“

“Ow my head,” Fitz grumbled and they all looked down at his face. He blinked, pouting some as he looked away from the light. “Wha- where ‘m I?” He blinked as he looked around, then after a few more seconds his eyes widened with a gasp. “Shit!” He sat bolt upright, nearly head-butting Daisy. He looked at Simmons, hand going to his middle. “Please tell me I dreamed that.”

She shook her head, tears in her eyes. “It’s- It happened. Fitz, I’m so sorry! It had to be something to do with the portal. The other place. You must’ve been exposed to some- some radiation or- or something magical and alien.”

Daisy’s heart dropped as she looked at Fitz’s hand on his distended middle. For a while now, Fitz had been gaining weight. They’d all noticed but nobody would ever say anything to him about it and make him feel bad about himself. He’d been very stressed out and not sleeping and it wasn’t a shock he was getting a little fat. But now it seemed it had been something far worse. “Oh God. Is it- is it fatal?”

Fitz laughed hysterically. “No, it’s fetal,” he managed, looking horrified but unable to compose himself. “Fucking fantastic, this. As if my life couldn’t get any more bloody strange!”

Daisy frowned. “I don’t get it.”

Fitz put his hands over his face and laid back on the cot, shaking his head. Simmons put her hand on his arm. “Fitz might like some privacy-“

“Fuckin’ tell them,” he said, voice muffled behind his hands.

Simmons bit her lip. “Fitz is… pregnant.”

Daisy looked at her for a moment then chuckled. “I think I misheard you, he’s what?”

“Pregnant!” Fitz snapped, sitting up. “I’m bloody fucking pregnant!” He put a hand on his belly. “There’s a goddamn _fetus_ inside of me!” He put his face in his hands, leaning over. “Oh bloody fucking hell. What the fuck. Oh my God. I thought I had fucking cancer or something-“

“Well Fitz let’s face it, this is a bit preferable to _cancer_ ,” Simmons tried but he just stared.

“YOU’RE NOT A PREGNANT MAN!” he argued. “Cancer is fixable.”

Simmons gave him an uncomfortable look. “Well. I mean… so is this, Fitz,” she reminded him.

He sighed, shoulders slumping. “If I’d known sooner maybe. But-“ He gave her a look that said nothing but fear. “You said I’m- I’m-“

“A bit past twenty-one weeks,” she explained. “Give or take a week or so.”

Daisy whistled. “Shit, halfway? It’s been more than five months since you went in that portal. It’s been six,” she said, and Fitz sighed, pinching his nose.

“It’s been five months almost exactly since this happened. I’m fairly certain it- it happened ‘naturally’. Not alien implantation,” he said, cheeks showing spots of pink.

Daisy opened her mouth to speak but from her right she heard a sharp intake of breath. “Shit.”

Daisy glanced at Mack, then back at Simmons, who was also eying Mack’s wide-eyed, fearful look curiously. Fitz just nodded, still staring at his belly. “Congratulations, Mack, you picked the wrong person to agree to fuck without condoms,” he muttered despondently. 

Daisy gasped, looking at Mack, then at Fitz. “Whoa, wait, you two-“

“Just don’t, Daisy,” Fitz said softly. He closed his eyes. “I shouldn’t have kept quiet. I could’ve did it if I hadn’t- hadn’t felt him moving and saw him-“

“Fitz, you don’t have to-“

“I do, Jemma,” he said sadly. He looked up and gave her a sad smile. “Thanks, though.”

Daisy swallowed hard. “He?” he asked, and Simmons nodded.

“Took a bit to work out what the heck I was looking at when I did a scan of his abdomen to try and see if there were blockages or anything but when I realized I was looking at a bum and penis, we moved things around and saw the face,” she explained, curling her hand around Fitz’s.

Fitz sighed, shaking his head. “There is a baby boy inside of me. What the hell is my life?”

Mack shuffled some. “Fitz-“

“Not yet,” Fitz said, holding up a hand at him. “I just- I cannot have that conversation right now. I need a bit.”

Simmons tutted. “You need _rest_. You’ve spent the past several months sick and unable to sleep. You need a solid nap before we do or talk about anything, I’d say.”

Daisy slid her hand into his empty one. “It’s gonna be okay, Fitz,” she said, leaning in to hug him quickly. “Remember? Things are changing but it doesn’t have to be bad.”

He smiled when she pulled away and nodded. “Thank you.”

She shrugged. “Just returning the favor.”

~

Simmons gave him something safe for him and his- the fetus that would let him sleep. He slept a solid twelve hours. When he woke up, he felt better than he had in the past three months, if he was honest.

Not quite well enough for dealing with Mack when he opened his door to go out and found Mack just raising his hand to knock. Mack awkwardly lowered his hand. “Um, hey,” he said, giving Fitz an uneasy smile.

Fitz sighed, dropping his head backwards. “Alright, may as well get it over with while I’m still in a good enough mood,” he said, walking back over to his bed. He plopped himself down on the middle of it, crossing his legs beneath him, watching as Mack uncomfortably shut the door then walked over to drag the chair from Fitz’s desk over to sit in front of him. Mack didn’t say anything so Fitz flapped a hand at him. “Just spit it out already.”

“Are you okay?” Mack asked, and Fitz raised an eyebrow at his concerned look.

“I’m five months pregnant and I’m not a woman, do you think there’s the slightest chance I’m any form of the word ‘okay’?” he asked bluntly and Mack chuckled.

“Alright,” he said, shaking his head. “Lemme, try again.” He looked at him with a small smile. “Are you having a total mental breakdown or are you semi-holding it together?”

Fitz sighed, leaning back on his hands. “I’m better now that I’m not so bloody exhausted.” He shook his head. “I’m not doing terribly well either, though.” He groaned. “I have no idea what I’m going to do.”

Mack nodded. “You know… you don’t have to do this, Fitz,” he said gently. Fitz looked back at him, and Mack shook his head. “You’re not stuck. You can make your own choices. I’m sure SHIELD can handle it.”

Fitz leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and rubbed his hands into his eyes. “I know that, Mack, but I just-“ He hesitated, looking down at his middle. “If I hadn’t waited so long and ignored the problem, then maybe I would’ve. But… but he’s moving in there. Right now, I can feel it. He’s got a face and arms and legs and he’s fluttering around. I can’t.” He looked up, biting his lip. “I’m sorry if that’s not what you want to hear from me, but-“

“Whoa, Turbo,” Mack said, holding up a hand. “I’m not saying I want you to get an abortion, I’m saying that you shouldn’t feel stuck. You shouldn’t feel like you’ve gotta do something you don’t want to.”

“Well, what I want is to not get an abortion,” Fitz said simply. He rolled his eyes. “Mack, while I appreciate your concern, this isn’t really your problem, now is it?”

Mack gave him a stern look. “Fitz, you didn’t get this way alone.”

“And you didn’t exactly know that was a possibility,” Fitz countered. “It could’ve been anybody, and it just ended up being you. Obviously, that bloody portal dimension changed something about my body. I jumped in there, I exposed myself to that, and then I was the one that said ‘fuck it’ when there were no condoms and I wanted to fuck you for the hell of it,” Fitz said, regretting his harshness when Mack recoiled very so slightly.

“Yeah, thanks for the reminder,” Mack muttered, then sat back in the chair. “Alright,” he said. “Maybe you got yourself into this situation then,” he mused, though Fitz could practically taste the sarcasm. “But you’re my friend, no matter what, and I still worry about you. I was there for you when all these other assholes abandoned you. Why would I back off now?”

Fitz smiled reluctantly. “I guess I should’ve expected that,” he admitted. He laughed weakly. “God, Mack, what the hell am I gonna do? I’m a SHIELD agent. I can’t leave this job, but I can’t have an abortion either.”

Mack shrugged. “They can deal with it. Coulson can’t fire you for being pregnant. Sure, SHIELD isn’t as organized as it used to be, but I’m pretty sure firing someone for being pregnant is discrimination.”

Fitz gave him a hopeful look. “You think so?”

“Of course,” Mack said, reaching out to pat his knee. “And whatever goes down, whatever happens, you always got me. You know that,” he said and Fitz smiled in spite of his worries.

“Thanks,” he all but whispered.

~

Fitz would’ve laughed at the look on Coulson’s face if things weren’t aimed on him. “So…. You’re not fat. You’re pregnant.”

Fitz tutted. “Great, I knew you all thought I was getting fat-“

“Fitz, is that really what we want to focus on right now?” Coulson interrupted. He stood up from where he was leaning on his desk. “What are we supposed to do with a pregnant scientist?”

Fitz raised an eyebrow. “Do with me?” he asked with an edge to his voice.

Coulson gestured to his middle. “There’s a lot of stuff going on here. Alien stuff – again – we need to test you for. Make sure pregnancy won’t kill you. Work out how the hell you got pregnant- do we even know where it came from?” he asked.

Fitz glanced at Mack, and Daisy pointed at Mack, who ducked his head shamefully. “They did the do and now there’s a baby in Fitz,” she said helpfully.

Coulson made a face. “You two are dating?!” he asked, and Fitz blushed slightly while Mack suddenly became very interested in the chair Daisy was sitting in.

Fitz fidgeted. “It’s… well. It kinda just… no. We’re not dating.” He touched his middle. “Look, Sir. Jemma is running every test she can on me. She’s trying to work out what went on to make it possible.”

Coulson nodded. “Until then… well hell, I guess it’s too late for quarantine,” he mused.

Daisy gave him a funny look. “He’s been knocked up for five months, I’m pretty sure by now we’ve all used the same glasses as him, not just been in contact with him. If we were gonna get alien pregnant from Fitz, it’d have happened.”

Fitz nodded. “And the baby looks normal. I’ll need further tests, but from the looks of things, he’s a normal baby boy. No worries about it trying to burst out of me or anything.”

Coulson leaned back against his desk. “Alright. Assuming everything is fine, what then?” he asked, crossing his arms. He shrugged. “Can you work like this? You handle dangerous materials. Sure that’s a risk to your baby.”

Fitz shrugged. “I’ve got techs to do that. Or Mack if I need someone with hands on experience with stuff. He’s not always out in the field. I can continue working. It’s not a problem. Pregnant people aren’t that fragile.”

“What about after the baby is born?” Coulson asked. “This isn’t really a job you can do nine to five, Fitz. I’m going to be down a master engineer. Do you know how hard you will be to replace?”

Fitz’s cheeks heated. “You’re going to fire me because I have a baby?” he asked sharply.

“No,” Coulson said simply. “But you cannot have a baby and be a SHIELD agent, Fitz. It’s that simple.”

Daisy gave Coulson a surprised look. “What, you mean SHIELD fires parents?”

“Not in the past,” Coulson said. “But SHIELD personnel all live on site these days. We don’t get sick days. We don’t get family leave. It might be different if Fitz had a spouse to raise the kids while he works here and is always on call when he’s gone, but this SHIELD can’t operate the way old SHIELD did.” He looked at Fitz with a sad smile. “Look, Fitz, I don’t want this any more than you do. But it just can’t work. You can’t live on site with a child and you don’t ever have free time where you can just clock out and that be that. Unless you’re sending your child to live with your parents or putting it up for adoption, you should probably work on looking for job opportunities elsewhere and I need to find your replacement.”

Fitz took a shaky breath and clenched his fists. “So- so it’s SHIELD or my baby?” he asked, and Coulson nodded apologetically.

“I’m really sorry, but that’s how it’s gotta be.”

~

Bobbi leaned over to look down at Mack where he lay on the floor doing crunches. “So, I hear you knocked up Fitz,” she said without preamble and Mack groaned, letting his legs slide out and his arms fall to the sides, laying flat on his back to stare up at the ceiling.

“Word is spreading, I see.”

“Yep,” she said, walking around him to hold out a hand and help him up. He stood and she patted his chest. “So is this congratulations or what?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

Mack grunted as he picked up his water bottle and took a long drink. “It’s definitely nothing we’re celebrating, that’s for damn sure,” he said, shaking his head. He put his hands on his hips as he sighed heavily, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m going to have a son. It should be a happy occasion. If I could tell her, my sister would be so happy.” He shook his head. “Instead, either Fitz is gonna give him up for adoption, give him to his parents, or Fitz is going to leave SHIELD for good. Coulson says that’s his only options.”

Bobbi winced sympathetically. “Sucks.” She nodded to him. “What about you? You okay? I mean, sure, you’re not pregnant, but it’s still gotta be stressful.”

Mack huffed. “Man, things have been stressful for months.” He sat down on the bench, leaning over to untie his shoes. “You have your on and off thing with Hunter, but do you know what it’s like to find out you were ‘just the one that happened to be there’ for somebody you actually care about?” he asked, giving her a look. “I thought the fact things weren’t that awkward after Fitz and I slept together meant it was just a ‘I need comfort and trust you’ thing, because we’re just as close as ever, no awkwardness, nothing. Then he goes and says that getting him pregnant isn’t my problem because I could’ve been anybody.” He scoffed. “Apparently, it wasn’t a ‘you’re my friend and I trust you’, it was ‘you’re convenient’.” 

“Now that doesn’t sound like Fitz,” Bobbi said, and Mack threw up his hands.

“Fuck if I know.” He stood up again, leaning down to pick up his shoes. “I knew long ago all he’d ever be is my friend, and I’m genuinely fine with that. But it fucking sucks to hear that you were just a convenient fuck for one of your best friends. Especially when it ends up probably ruining his career.” He snorted. “So much for, ‘we both have seen each other’s medical files and know nobody’s got anything, so who cares that there are no condoms’ being safe. The only time in my entire life I do that shit, it’s the one guy who can get fucking pregnant.”

Bobbi snickered. “Yeah, God just hates you there, Mack. No two ways about it.” After a few moments quietness, she gave him a long look. “You think he’s gonna quit SHIELD?”

Mack sighed heavily, but nodded. “Yeah, I do.” He met her eyes with a sad smile. “He knows the baby is the product of something from an alien planet changing his body, so the risk of giving it up for adoption is that it might be part-alien. His father is a busy man. His mother left them when he was a baby. So his parents aren’t an option. I don’t doubt for a minute Fitz is gonna give up SHIELD. And I hate it, because I don’t think he’ll want to. I think he’ll hate the baby and himself and me. His whole life is SHIELD. But he’ll weigh the risk of giving a stranger an alien baby against it and he’ll pick to give up SHIELD, because Fitz is the most selfless son of a bitch I’ve ever met in my entire life.”

“You never know,” Bobbi said with a sad smile. “Maybe he’ll find someone SHIELD-related who wants the baby, alien or not.”

~

Fitz was glad that it was impossible for him to really let things get awkward between him and Mack, because he definitely needed Mack’s help in the lab now that he knew what he could and couldn’t be around. Nothing said friendship like letting Fitz shout directions at him from across the lab while he handled hazardous materials that Fitz shouldn’t be exposed to. Fitz knew his directions weren’t the clearest sometimes, but Mack didn’t seem that bothered. No more than usual anyhow.

It was also useful when the techs got somewhat afraid of Fitz when his hormones started to make him really easily frustrated. It was one of the times that he snapped and shouted at one of the techs for dropping things in that he felt the first big jab from inside his belly. He’d felt the wiggles and taps for ages, but when he shouted, the baby started going crazy and he felt first the one big jab and then another not even a minute later.

“Oh!” he gasped, then looked up at Mack, who was sweeping up the mess the tech had made. “Holy shit, gimme your hand,” he said, grabbing Mack’s wrist without waiting and dragging it to the spot where the baby was kicking. 

“Fitz, what are you-“ Mack stopped abruptly when the baby kicked his hand. His eyes widened and he looked at Fitz. “Wow, that’s weird.”

Fitz scoffed. “You think it’s weird?! I’m the one with something _kicking_ inside me. Apparently the little bugger doesn’t like shouting,” he said, chuckling sheepishly.

Mack rolled his eyes. “Yeah, like there’s a chance you won’t shout.” The baby kicked again at the hand that remained on Fitz’s belly and Fitz was Mack glance down, smiling in amusement. “He’s strong, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, well, he clearly takes after the impregnator, not the impregnated in that case,” Fitz said, snickering as he looked down at his belly. “No wonder I’m so bloody huge already. I’m gonna end up looking like a tomato with a toothpick stuck through the side of it by the time this is over.” He looked Mack up and down. “I sure hope it stays _fitting_ in there and I don’t just burst open,” he said suspiciously and Mack rolled his eyes, rubbing his belly once before pulling away to go back to cleaning up.

“Actually, I was a tiny baby, so you never know,” Mack said, and Fitz gave him a doubtful look. “I’m seriously. I was just under six pounds when I was born. I wasn’t early or anything, just little.”

Fitz grimaced. “God, I hope this one follows suit. I’m very small, you know? A ten pound baby would just make me burst. It would be like Alien.”

Mack laughed openly. “Turbo, people have quintuplets sometimes, one baby is not gonna make you burst open.”

Fitz pointed at him. “ _Women_ have quintuplets sometimes. I’m not made for this.” He sighed, putting his hands on his hips as he turned to survey the worktable, only to jump again when the baby kicked. “What are you even doing in there?” he asked, looking down at his belly. “How the hell did it take me so damn long to work out there was a fetus in there?” 

“Well, to be fair,” Mack started, leaning against the table. “It’s not like men have babies without alien intervention. So I mean, it’s not as if that was a logical conclusion to make until Simmons sorted it out.”

Fitz huffed, looking down at his middle. “I’m still half-convinced it’s an alien not a baby. Logically, I know he’s a human baby in there, not an alien, all the tests confirm it, but it’s just so _odd_.”

Mack gave him a comforting smile, reaching over to rub his hand across Fitz’s shoulder blades. “Yeah, everybody’s taking bets about whether it’s gonna come out green and blue with big alien eyes, or pink and human looking,” he teased and Fitz snorted, shaking his head with a chuckle.

“Well, I mean, he may not look totally normal,” Fitz added. “He might be bald from birth,” he said, looking up at Mack’s shiny head with a pointed look.

Mack rolled his eyes. “You know I shave my head, Turbo-“

“Yes, but it’s fun to tease you,” Fitz said with a sweet little smile. He reached up and rubbed Mack’s head playfully. He laughed when Mack swatted his hand away. “To be fair, though, you’d look ridiculous with hair. Bald is a good look on you. You with hair would look weird like me with a beard.”

Mack looked at his face for a while, then shrugged. “It’d look weird with a full beard, but the stubble is a nice look.” He poked his cheek, making Fitz laugh and shove his hand away.

“Should’ve seen him before, he had a baby face all clean-shaven.” They both startled, and looked up to see Daisy walking in with a tablet in her hands. She glanced up and winked at Fitz. “Cutest little baby face. You’re not fooling anybody who knew you before, the scruff is totally to make you look more grown up.”

Fitz winced. “Sadly, no. It’s a leftover from when I couldn’t hold a razor near my face without risking terrible injury.” He shrugged. “Now I’m just too lazy for it.” He rubbed his cheek. “I haven’t shaved in two weeks, and this is as good as it gets.”

Mack gave him a sideways look. “Two weeks? Really? I probably grow that much stubble overnight.”

Daisy snorted. “I grow that much stubble on my legs overnight, you lucky blond jerk,” she said, and Fitz made a face.

“Ew.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Oh leg hair, how horrible. You’re such a boy,” she accused and Fitz glanced down at his belly. “Er, a boy doing a girl thing for a little while,” she amended, then held out her tablet. “It’s making funny sounds and I’m usually good at this sort of thing, but I suck at hardware problems compared to you.”

Fitz took it and tapped the screen a few times, humming. “Right. I’ll get on this.” He looked at Mack, gesturing to the worktable. “Can you-“

“Got it, Turbo,” he said, and Fitz smiled brightly.

“Thank you, you’re the best,” he said as he walked around the table and tugged Daisy into walking with him towards the other lab. 

Daisy looked back at Mack then wiggled her eyebrows at Fitz. “Somebody’s flirty,” she whispered and Fitz scoffed.

“Hardly. Not everybody wants to make out with half of SHIELD,” he accused, and Skye gave him a flat look.

“Says the person who _had sex_ with a fellow agent and is having his baby.”

Fitz shrugged. “Yeah, well, it’s only one man-“

“You used to be in love with Simmons.”

“It’s only one man and one woman,” he countered, blushing slightly. Skye just laughed until she snorted, which set Fitz off laughing at her snorting in response.

~

Mack and Fitz hadn’t really talked about what Fitz was going to do about SHIELD, so he wasn’t sure what to expect when Coulson brought it up during a team meeting to address how they needed to go over inventory and inspection after a pretty rough mission that broke a lot of things and cost them a lot of their best toys.

Fitz clearly wasn’t expecting Coulson to address him in the middle of the meeting, in front of most everybody. “Fitz, have you decided on if I need to find a replacement for you? I’d like to have you go ahead and screen possible replacements if you’re going to quit. You’ll know better than us what the replacement needs to be able to do.”

Fitz, who had been fidgeting all through the meeting, stilled, and Mack glanced sideways to see his face only to actually flinch some when he saw the look in Fitz’s eyes as he fixed them on Coulson. “You’re gonna ask me about my own damn replacement _now_ in front of everybody?” he asked, sounding shocked.

Coulson shrugged. “It’s not like we don’t all know you’re going to potentially leave, and we all need to be able to work with the new team member. You’ve had nearly two months to think about this.”

Mack knew immediately that was not the thing to say because Fitz’s head snapped up and that fire that everybody in the lab knew as ‘pregnancy pissed off’ was in his eyes. “Fitz-“ he tried to interrupt before Fitz fired off, but it was too late.

“Oh, two months to think about quitting my job or putting a potentially alien baby up for adoption? Two months during which I’ve still did all my work and then some? Two months of having a wiggly fetus kicking and jabbing my insides so I can’t sleep but I still stay in the lab until two in the morning fixing the shit YOU break after I build?” he asked, voice raising as he went on. “Ya think I’ve sat around with all the time in the world to weigh my options while we’ve been _fighting HYDRA_ on top of regular missions, during all of which I’ve been _bloody pregnant_!” Mack saw _May _actually duck down in her chair very, very slightly, when Fitz sat up straighter. “Do you know how hard it is to build nanotechnology from scratch while your whole body hurts, your legs fall asleep when you stand wrong, you haven’t slept, you’re constantly being poked and prodded and tested for everything under the sun, and you can’t even FUCKING FOCUS BECAUSE YOU’RE CONSTANTLY HUNGRY AND HORNY, BUT OH YES!” Fitz laughed a bit manically. “I ALSO HAVE TIME TO REALLY THINK ABOUT MY FUCKING LIFELONG CAREER GOING DOWN THE TOILET WHILE I’M BUSY BUILDING YOUR SHITE AND PROTECTING YOUR TEAMS!”__

__Mack grimaced and slapped a hand over his mouth as Fitz’s shoulders heaved as he stood up. “It’s bad enough I’m the fucking freak show in the lab again, but OH! Let’s ADD EVEN MORE STRESS ON TOP OF THAT!”_ _

__Coulson looked more shocked than pissed. “Fitz, you’re seriously overreacting-“_ _

__“HAVE YOU EVER BEEN PREGNANT?!” he snapped, eyes so wide that the whites showed around his pupils. “WELL HAVE YOU?! NO! YOU TALK TO ME ABOUT OVERREACTING WHEN YOU’RE SEVEN FUCKING MONTHS PREGNANT!” he all but screamed, voice cracking as he shoved his chair back and stalked out of the room – albeit less threateningly than he once might have been when not heavily pregnant and slightly waddling – and everybody just sat in stunned silence for the longest time._ _

__May whistled and shook her head. “Man, maybe it’s a good thing I never did get pregnant,” she muttered and Coulson chuckled whereas everyone else in the room gave her a terrified look._ _

__Mack sighed, pushing his chair back. “Better go catch him before he hides from Simmons. After that, she’s gonna want to check his blood pressure and all,” he muttered before making his quick escape to go and find Fitz and try to calm him down before he made himself faint._ _

__~_ _

__When Mack found Fitz, he half-expected to get something thrown at him, but instead he found Fitz sitting in his room crying as he sat on the foot of his bed, staring down at his phone. “Aw, Turbo,” he sighed as he carefully nudged the door open._ _

__Fitz looked up at him and it was like being kicked in the chest, the red, tear-streaked face looking up at him. It was hard to remember sometimes that Fitz wasn’t actually as young as he looked when he turned those big, blue eyes on him. “I fucking hate everything,” Fitz whimpered, and Mack obediently went to Fitz and crawled onto the bed beside him. Fitz turned and laid his head on Mack’s chest, curling against him as he whimpered softly. Mack wrapped his arms around him, resting his chin on Fitz’s head with a heavy breath._ _

__“I’d say ‘it’s all okay’ but I won’t pretend that really sucked,” he comforted and Fitz chuckled wetly against his shirt. “Coulson clearly wasn’t thinking when he brought that up in front of everybody.”_ _

__Fitz groaned. “I wanted to strangle him. And then I made a fool of myself. Being pregnant is really strange. I just saw red and went full on into a rage, you know?”_ _

__“Yeah, I noticed,” Mack said, smiling as he turned and kissed the top of Fitz’s head. “C’mon, Turbo, look at me.” Fitz looked up and Mack smiled at him, reaching up to brush a thumb along his jaw to stop one of the tears sliding down his face. “Nobody can blame you for shouting at him. It’s a shitty situation.” He looked down at Fitz’s belly then met his eyes again. “Have you thought about it? What you wanna do?”_ _

__Fitz grumbled, rubbing at his face. “I have no fucking clue,” he admitted. “I mean…” He sighed, trailing off. “I want to keep working at SHIELD. But I also know the baby may be different, and I don’t want what’s happening to Inhumans to happen to our baby.” He looked down at his belly. “I mean, I don’t want to quit my job and give up everything I’ve worked at for years, but I want what’s best for him, you know? I may not really be parent material, but I’m a bit attached to him. I’m the one that decided to have him, and after two months of him in there, wiggling around when I talk and kicking my hand when I push at my belly, I don’t want anything bad to happen to him.” He shook his head with a frustrated groan. “I wish I knew someone who could adopt him that I can trust. But everybody I trust to love him and treat him well work here. My dad would freak out and quit his job, but he’s really important so I can’t have that.”_ _

__Mack nodded. “I really don’t want you to go,” he admitted softly, and Fitz smiled sadly. “Last time you left, I missed you like crazy and I saw you again in just a few days.”_ _

__Fitz nudged his shoulder into Mack’s chest with a faintly teasing smile. “Shouldn’t have knocked me up, then.”_ _

__Mack huffed in amusement and curled his arms around Fitz, pulling him into a hug. “Yeah, sorry about that,” he said and Fitz laughed._ _

__“Eh, it’s my fault anyways,” Fitz said, nuzzling into his chest. “I was all screwed up and desperate to remind myself I was actually alive. What better way than to shag the hottest man on base?” he joked and Mack scoffed._ _

__“Oh please.” He detangled himself from Fitz and leaned back against the mass of pillows Fitz had on his bed, looking up at Fitz with a chastising look. “I’ve seen Hunter in his boxers, we both know that’s not true.”_ _

__Fitz mimed gagging. “Ew, Hunter is so not hotter than you. That’s just mad.”_ _

__Mack raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms behind his head. “You think so?”_ _

__Fitz spluttered. “ _Yes_ , of course!” He flapped a hand at Mack. “Have you never looked at a mirror? Honestly? I mean, I don’t sit around fighting the urge to jump you or something, but you’re incredibly fit.” He smacked Mack’s leg, next to his knee. “Big muscles and a pretty face.”_ _

__Mack chuckled, rolling his eyes. “Pretty face, right.”_ _

__“Shut it,” Fitz grumbled as he crawled up the bed clumsily and flopped onto his side besides Mack, rolling around until he was on his back with his head pillowed on Mack’s bicep. “You’re pretty. You’ve got freckles and the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen. It’s nice.”_ _

__Mack laughed, shaking his head. “So I don’t even get devilishly handsome?” he asked, turning his head to look at Fitz. “I get pretty?”_ _

__“Yup,” Fitz said, meeting his smile with one of his own. “You’re handsome, but in a pretty way.” Fitz started a moment and then looked down at his belly. “Oh, are you awake in there?” he asked, rubbing a hand over his belly._ _

__Mack grinned, reaching down to put his hand on Fitz’s belly, rolling onto his side to face Fitz some. “Is he moving around?” he asked, and Fitz nodded, tugging Mack’s hand further to the right. Mack smiled when he felt a thud against his palm. “Oh hey.” He laughed. “Hey there, little man. You’re kinda strong.” Mack couldn’t explain the feeling he felt as he moved his hand and rubbed his fingertips across the spot where the baby was kicking violently. He had felt the baby moving before, but for some reason, it really hit him this time that it was _his_ son, too. Not just Fitz’s. “Yeah, that’s your daddy’s hand you’re kicking.”_ _

__Fitz chuckled. “You know, I feel like I’m massive most of the time, but your hand still covers nearly my whole belly.”_ _

__“Oh, I’m sorry to say, you’ll get a hell of a lot bigger,” Mack said, and Fitz raised an eyebrow. “I’ve got a niece. My sister has a daughter. I was around when she was pregnant.”_ _

__“I didn’t know you had a niece or a sister,” Fitz said, smiling brightly. “So you know more about pregnancy than me, huh? Could’ve shared that earlier.”_ _

__Mack grinned. “I don’t think it’s the same, Turbo, but I do know you will get _way_ bigger.”_ _

__“Well, shit.” He looked down at his belly. “You’re going to be giant, aren’t you, ya little bugger.” Fitz looked at Mack again when Mack moved his hand to follow the baby kicking. “Tell me about your family. I’ve only heard you mention your parents once I think.”_ _

__Mack hummed, glancing at his face. “Well, I grew up in Connecticut and that’s where my parents still live. I’ve got a twin sister and a younger brother.”_ _

__Fitz gave him a surprised grin. “Twin sister? Wow, how has that never come up?” He smirked. “Does she look like you?”_ _

__Mack laughed and nodded. “We have the exact same face, I’m not even kidding. She’s just smaller and a woman,” he added. “My brother doesn’t look much like me, though. He’s shorter, skinny, and has a lot darker skin than me and Serena.”_ _

__“Serena, is that your sister?” Fitz asked, and Mack nodded._ _

__“My brother’s name is Devon. He lives in San Diego, Serena lives in New York,” he said. “They all know I work for SHIELD, but they’ve got regular lives. My mother was a teacher and my dad was an insurance salesman, my sister’s a yoga instructor and my brother owns a bar.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “And I’m a SHIELD agent. Funny, huh?”_ _

__Fitz grinned. “That sounds really nice, though. Having a brother and a sister. And normal parents. You probably had a normal childhood with dinner at seven and a fence around the garden, didn’t you?” He narrowed his eyes. “Did you play a sport in school?”_ _

__“Yep, I was on the basketball team,” he said and Fitz rolled his eyes._ _

__“Basketball being a manly sport is so weird,” he teased. “Girls play netball, it’s literally a women’s sport, but of course, you strange Americans and your strange sports.”_ _

__Mack grinned. “Oh, and what sport are you good at?” he asked and Fitz blushed slightly._ _

__“Not a damn one,” he admitted. “Although, since I joined shield, found out pretty quickly I’m a damn good shot, so I should’ve taken up sport-shooting when I was a kid. I never planned on needing to shoot anyone, but we had to get certified anyways, and I was just really good at it.”_ _

__Mack looked at him with a warm smile, unable to help thinking it was adorable. “What’s your family like? I know it’s just your dad, but you have any cousins or something?” he asked, and Fitz shook his head._ _

__“I do have a mum,” he pointed out. “I talk to her and everything. I just didn’t see her much growing up. She and my dad split and she left when I was just a baby. She travels a lot, you know? Sort of a wanderer. I think the last time I spoke to her she was somewhere in Africa? Or maybe it was Australia. It was one of the A-continents and it wasn’t Asia,” he said, shrugging. “But no, no siblings, no cousins. Just me and my dad.”_ _

__Mack smiled sadly. “What’s he do? Does he know what you do?” he asked, wanting to learn what he could about Fitz while they had the chance to just be lazy together. He could be losing Fitz and he didn’t want to miss any of the chances he had to get to know him._ _

__“Oh he hates that I’m a SHIELD agent,” Fitz said with a sheepish grin. “He, erm… he wanted me to join his agency.” Mack raised an eyebrow and Fitz cleared his throat some. “I can’t give away details, but he’s sort of the… well, the ‘me’ of another international espionage agency.”_ _

__“Your dad is a spy?! For someone else?!” Mack asked in surprise._ _

__Fitz grinned. “Yep. He wanted me to join them, but I wanted to go to SHIELD Academy so badly. Jemma and I were friends at university before we went to SHIELD, so I definitely wanted to go with her. We were both the only fifteen year olds to get accepted into SHIELD academy, that’s for sure. We started when we were sixteen, and we’re still the youngest to ever go.”_ _

__Mack groaned, letting his head fall onto Fitz’s chest. “Don’t remind me how young you are. It makes me feel like a pervert that you’re having my baby.”_ _

__Fitz rolled his eyes. “You’re younger than my dad, so it’s not too weird-“_ _

__“Yes, yes it is too weird,” Mack argued. “I’m old enough to be your dad, even if I’m not as old as him!”_ _

__“If you’d been a teen parent, maybe, but it’s not that bad,” Fitz countered. “Come off it,” he said, poking the top of his head playfully._ _

__Mack sighed, lifting his head again. “I feel so old,” he sighed and Fitz just chuckled._ _

__“There, there.” He patted his cheek. “So, your niece! Tell me about her!”_ _

__Mack settled down again, hand returning to Fitz’s belly as he lay on his side facing him. “Well, her name is Kiara and she’s eight. She’s sort of the cutest thing ever, if I’m honest. Whenever I go visit, I always bring her something with a new state name on it. Like a magnet or something. She’s got a whole shelf of ‘Random Crap Uncle Al Brought Me’.”_ _

__“Your family calls you Al?” Fitz asked, humming. “I wish my dad would call me Leo. He insists on calling me Leopold. Jemma calls me Leo, but I honestly prefer being called Fitz by everybody but my dad.”_ _

__Mack made a face. “It would be so weird to call you Leopold. You’re either Fitz, or you’re Turbo.” He shook his head. “Nothing else.”_ _

__Fitz giggled. “And you’re definitely not and Alphonso,” he said and Mack laughed in surprise._ _

__“That sounds so funny in your accent,” he said, and Fitz grinned._ _

__“I’ll stick to Mack, thanks.”_ _

__Mack nodded. “Sounds good to me.” He curled his arm around Fitz, settling down beside him, head resting on the pillow. “So, they call me Al, and Kiera calls me Uncle Al. She’s real smart, and she does gymnastics and always sends me photos of her doing cool things at the gym. She has a pet rat, of all things, and she always sends me photos of him wearing little hats she made, and it’s adorable. I love when I get a break to go visit her, but it doesn’t happen very much anymore, so I haven’t seen her in six months.”_ _

__Fitz smiled, eyes drifting shut as he relaxed. “Sounds like you’re good with kids. You ever think about it? Getting married and having kids like your sister?”_ _

__Mack scrunched up his nose. “Not really. I mean, I never had a chance, really. Before I joined SHIELD, it wasn’t that easy to meet a guy and start a family. There wasn’t a place in America I could’ve gotten married before I joined SHIELD.”_ _

__Fitz hummed curiously. “So you’re gay? I didn’t actually know that. I mean, obviously I know you like men, but could’ve just been like me, not picky either way.”_ _

__Mack nodded. “Yep, no girls for me.” He smiled at Fitz’s sleepy face. He was clearly falling asleep to the sound of Mack’s voice. “After I joined SHIELD, I’d meet guys, but we were always both agents, so the idea of quitting the life and having a family wasn’t really a thought. The older I get, the more I wish things were different, that I could’ve just been a mechanic, so that now I could get married and start a family, but I’m gonna end up being with SHIELD until I’m either too old, or dead.”_ _

__“S’not fair, really,” Fitz murmured. “May, she wanted kids, and SHIELD took it from her. You sort of want a family, and SHIELD is keeping you from it. And I never even imagined it, and SHIELD got me pregnant.” He grinned sleepily, eyes fluttering. “Actually you got me pregnant, but you know what I mean,” he added._ _

__Mack smiled sadly, watching Fitz’s eyelashes fluttering a bit. “Take a nap, Baby. I’ll be right here,” he said, rubbing at his side._ _

__Fitz nodded, leaning his head against Mack’s arm. “Sounds good,” he breathed. “Did you call me ‘Baby’?” he asked, and Mack just winced._ _

__“Sleep, Turbo,” he whispered and Fitz hummed absently before dozing off._ _

__“M’kay.”_ _

__~_ _

__Fitz stared at Jemma and the doctor they had flown in and just blinked. “You mean he’s _really_ totally normal?” he asked skeptically._ _

__Jemma nodded. “Fitz, your blood work is all normal for a pregnancy – apart from the hormone imbalance – and from everything we can tell, the scans, the amniocentesis, everything, the baby seems totally normal.”_ _

__Dr. Parker also nodded. “You’ve got about a six pound human baby boy in there. That’s all I can tell you,” he said with a shrug. “Your blood pressure is a bit high, but not dangerously. Your blood glucose levels are a little off where I’d like them to be, but that’s probably up to your body being ‘wrong’ for this.”_ _

__“So what the hell made me pregnant?” Fitz asked skeptically. “If this really is a total normal, perfectly human baby, then why is it there?”_ _

__Simmons patted his hand lightly. “All we can guess is that… well, that the portal changed you. It’s entirely possible the alien matter on that planet changed your biology temporarily. There’s no clear way, from what we can tell, for the baby to have _gotten there_ -“_ _

__“For sperm to fertilize an egg,” Dr. Parker said more plainly. “Also, since you’re not a woman with monthly cycles, there’s no reason an egg should have been there to start with. But it’s your DNA and the DNA from the father on record that formed this fetus, not some strange DNA that was implanted in you somehow. And you have no ovaries or any other way to produce eggs,” he added. “Honestly, there had to be something alien to happen to your body but, unless you go through that portal again, I don’t think it could be replicated. And it could’ve happened to anyone, I’m betting. Had another man gone through then come out and immediately had sex with someone else, the same risk would’ve presented itself.”_ _

__Fitz huffed, looking at his belly. “Well that’s just great, you,” he said to his belly. “Your father just had to be so damn attractive,” he said, rubbing at his belly with a playful glare. He looked up with a sigh. “So how much longer can I carry him? If there’s no way for him to get out, it can’t be good to keep going so long, right?” he asked, looking between them._ _

__Dr. Parker shook his head. “I’d like to stay here, on site, and monitor you daily,” he said, looking at Simmons. “He’s already got a six pound baby, so if need be, chances are the baby could be born without needing any extra medical care than what we can do here with what you have. I’d like him to make it another two weeks, but if it looks like there’s any signs the fetus is in distress, we can go ahead and operate.”_ _

__Fitz frowned. “Are you _sure_ it can be done here? I didn’t do this much work to get him here just to have him bite it because of inadequate medical care,” he stressed._ _

__“Oh you have very advanced medical equipment here. It will be sufficient,” he reassured._ _

__Fitz shrugged and nodded. “Alright then,” he said, looking down at his belly again. “Looks like I need to finally decide what the heck I’m gonna do with you,” he said with a sad smile, rubbing a hand over his belly. “Not much time left.”_ _

__~_ _

__Fitz watched with sadness filling him as Mack smiled at and stroked the side of his belly, where the baby was pushing against his skin. It was clear to him that, somewhere along the way, Mack had really started to care about him and about their baby. “Mack?” he asked softly, setting his book aside._ _

__Mack turned and looked up at him, shuffling his elbows some so he was facing Fitz better. “Yeah, Turbo?”_ _

__Fitz reached out and rested his hand on Mack’s wrist. “Do-“ He stopped, hesitating. He knew what he wanted to ask, but he was sort of scared of the answer. He had never been the brave one, no matter what Mack claimed. He bit his lip, but soldiered on. “Would you still have feelings for me if I wasn’t pregnant?” he asked fearfully. “I mean, I’m not stupid, I can tell you like me, but I- sometimes I think it’s only because of the baby. Some weird guilt complex gone wrong.”_ _

__Mack gave him a strange look. “What do you mean ‘if you weren’t pregnant’?”_ _

__“It’s just- just that you could very easily have started out guilty that you got me pregnant and then it twisted into something more,” Fitz said quickly._ _

__“Fitz, if you can tell that I have feelings for you, you know the answer to that,” Mack said in a sad tone. “I mean, hell, if I didn’t love you, you wouldn’t be pregnant, now would you?” he asked and Fitz froze, eyes widening._ _

__“What are you-“ He stopped, frowning. “But- I thought-“ His face morphed into a glare. “If you loved me _before_ all this, why the hell didn’t you ever do anything before I jumped you?” he asked, and Mack chuckled sadly._ _

__“Because you’re you? You didn’t need me trying to get in your pants, Fitz. You needed a friend, you needed somebody that gave a damn about you when everybody else just abandoned you,” he stressed. “The last thing you needed was some middle-aged mechanic trying to date you when you were recovering, and then by the time you were better, there was that stuff with Simmons-“_ _

__Fitz gaped. “Oh my God, you felt that for me all along? Why didn’t you ever say anything?”_ _

__Mack looked up at him with a soft look that was the exact same one he always gave him, but suddenly Fitz _got it_. “Because it was never about what you could give me, it was only ever about what I could give you. I’ve loved you since before Simmons came back from working for HYDRA. I’d have been a shitty bastard for trying to get with you when you were still struggling to even talk. I would’ve helped you without being attracted to you, but I was. You’re brilliant and beautiful, Turbo.” He shook his head. “I never stood a chance when it came to you.”_ _

__Fitz’s heart sank. “Mack… God, I’m such a shit. I put you through all my drama with Simmons-“_ _

__“Yeah, and I’m your friend, so that was allowed,” Mack interrupted. “It’s not like I didn’t know all the damn while that you loved her. She’s your best friend, of course I knew better than to try and compete with her. You’ve loved her for longer than I’ve known you. I knew when I slept with you that you didn’t really want me, you just needed me, the way you have several times before. I gave you want you needed, and it resulted in a certain squirmy little boy,” he said, smiling as he glanced back at Fitz’s belly. “Just like you, Turbo, always doing something.”_ _

__Fitz shook his head in blank horror as he looked at Mack. “I didn’t- it wasn’t-“ He groaned. “Mack, I didn’t just sleep with you because I needed a distraction. You’re my _friend_. I wouldn’t do that to you. I slept with you because I trusted you, and I wanted you, and I was so fucking happy I was alive that I couldn’t help myself.” He reached out and brushed his fingertips along Mack’s jaw. “I thought I’d never see you again, and when I did, I couldn’t help myself. I needed to feel you, and touch you, and kiss you, and prove to myself you were really there.” He felt his eyes burn and he didn’t even try to fight the tears his hormones supplied him with. “You’re my partner, Mack. In everything. Simmons used to be the one that I loved, and worked with, and trusted with everything, but she left me. And the only one there for me was you.” He smiled weakly. “I trust you. I spend my time with you. I work best with you. I love _you_ ,” he stressed. “I just never thought you’d ever see me the same way because nobody has ever seen me that way.”_ _

__Mack smiled and shifted up to his hands and knees, crawling up to lean over Fitz. “I’ve only ever seen _you_ , Fitz. There’s no ‘way’ about it,” he murmured sweetly before pressing a kiss to his jaw. “It’s just you.”_ _

__Fitz laughed wetly, curling his hand around Mack’s jaw. “At least kiss me properly after all that sweet talk,” he teased, and Mack grinned before turning to seek out Fitz’s lips, meeting him in a slow, warm kiss that put everything he felt into one kiss._ _

__Words were unnecessary._ _

__~_ _

__When Mack woke up, for a moment he was confused. It was darker than usual and he felt something tapping on his spine. He turned his head, stilling when he saw a curly, dark blond head resting on the other pillow behind him. He grinned and reached back, smiling when his hand found the thing tapping on back to be the baby inside of Fitz kicking at him. He rubbed at the spot his son was kicking him from for a moment and then he sat up and stretched, yawning as he looked over at the clock. It was only five-thirty, but he and Fitz had fallen asleep pretty early the night before. He looked back at Fitz and chuckled when he saw Fitz had already moved and half-thrown the covers off as he rolled into the spot Mack had left empty when he got up. Mack pulled the covers back over Fitz’s bare body, knowing how easily he got cold, and pressed a kiss to his jaw before he got up and found his clothes._ _

__He was still buttoning his shirt over his undershirt when he left Fitz’s bunk, holding it with one hand while he carefully shut the door with the other, trying his hardest not to wake Fitz up. He succeeded and let out a breath of relief and turned, only to startle, nearly falling back against the door when he turned around to see Daisy standing about a foot from him. “Jesus, Tremors!”_ _

__She gave him a knowing look, arms crossed over her chest, fingers tapping on her other elbow. “So Mack. Why’re you leaving Fitz’s room before six in the morning?” she asked and he gave her a flat look._ _

__“What do you think?” he asked and she just smirked._ _

__“You know, if Simmons finds out you and Fitz got busy, she’ll freak out. He really isn’t supposed to be doing anything ‘stressful’,” she said, and Mack cringed._ _

__“Remind me to not let her know then,” he said. “Last thing I need is to get my butt whooped by a skinny little girl,” he said and Daisy snorted and smacked him in the chest._ _

__“Shut up or this skinny little girl will do it for her,” she said, and then naturally fell into step as they walked on. “Where’re you headed this early anyways?”_ _

__“Call my sister,” Mack said with a smile. “It’ll be past time for my niece to have left for school so we can talk without my niece stealing the phone to talk to me.”_ _

__Daisy grinned. “Aww. Funny to think you’ve got a family. The rest of us are so family-less.”_ _

__Mack slowed to a stop, making Daisy quit walking. He looked at her and felt a pang of regret. He had made a decision days ago, one he hadn’t talked about with anybody, and he realized that he was going to have to tell Daisy first. He owed it to her as her partner. “Daisy,” he said softly and she frowned._ _

__“Uh-oh. That’s a serious ‘Daisy’, not a fun one or a ‘Tremors’.” She tilted her head. “You okay?”_ _

__Mack sighed heavily, running his hand over his head. “I- we should talk. Just you and me,” he said, and she nodded curiously._ _

__“Sure, Mack. Whatever you need.”_ _

__He nodded and slung an arm around her shoulders, making her walk on. “C’mon, then.”_ _

__~_ _

__As luck would have it, Mack and Daisy were out doing a recon mission when Fitz had a dizzy spell and fainted in the middle of the hallway. Dr. Parker was concerned about his blood pressure, so Fitz barely had time to get his head clear from fainting before they started to prep him for surgery. It felt extremely odd to have his best friend and the med techs who stitched them up when they busted an eyebrow looking after cutting him open, but he was on too much anesthesia to even care that much._ _

__Fitz was barely even aware of what was going on down past the little curtain thing they’d set up to block him from seeing his own belly, so the split second after Dr. Parker said, “And here we go,” the piercing cry of an infant jarred him out of his daze and he gasped softly._ _

__“Is he alright?” he asked quickly, craning his head, though he couldn’t see anything no matter how much he tried. “Is my baby alright?” he asked, turning to the med tech beside his head._ _

__Before his demands could be answered, he saw Dr. Parker walking away towards the next room over and he desperately wished he could see over the bottom of the window to see what he was doing with his baby. He wanted to know if he was alright. He wanted to see him. He wanted Mack, too._ _

__Fitz didn’t even realize he was crying until Simmons popped up from where she was supervising taking care of finishing the surgery, demanding to know if he was feeling the pain through the medications, worried that something had gone wrong. “I’m bloody fine, just get on with it,” he grumbled, sniffling pitifully as he turned his head to the side, watching through the window as Dr. Parker moved around, making sure that the doctor didn’t make any panicked movements that might suggest something was wrong with his son._ _

__~_ _

__Mack smiled when Daisy settled beside him, handing him a celebratory beer. “Shouldn’t we wait until we at least land?” he asked. “Wouldn’t do to start drinking early and end up having to turn around and go fly another mission.”_ _

__Daisy shrugged. “Fuck it,” she said, and Mack laughed, watching as she tossed the other in her hand to Hunter. “Nobody even got shot at. I say that’s a good reason to celebrate.”_ _

__“And I’ve got an even better one.” Daisy froze on opening her beer and Bobbi laughed from the controls as she flipped the screen in the back on so they could see Coulson on it._ _

__Daisy gave a sheepish smile. “Heeeeyyy Coulson.” She slowly slid her beer behind her body and he chuckled._ _

__“Go ahead, have a drink and raise a toast to the new dad on your jet,” he said, and it took a moment before Mack’s jaw dropped._ _

__“New- I- oh God, is everybody okay?! What happened, they weren’t planning it for another- My son-“_ _

__“Is totally fine,” Coulson said with a genuine smile. “Fitz’s blood pressure spiked this morning so they went ahead and decided to play it safe, but everybody’s fine. Fitz is resting and the baby’s totally healthy. Congratulations, Dad,” he said and Mack turned to Daisy who just threw her arms up._ _

__“You’re a dad!” she cried, and Mack smiled in shock as Bobbi and Hunter both cheered for him. Hunter even walked over and gave him a quick hug._ _

__“Congratulations, Mate!” He cracked open his beer and raised the bottle. ‘This one’s to you and your new little one,” he said and Mack rubbed a hand over his head before following suit and going for a drink of his own beer._ _

__Daisy gave him a smile, nudging him gently. “Told you this would probably be our last mission before the baby was born,” she said and Mack just slung an arm around her, nodding with a smile._ _

__“You know everything, don’t you, Tremors?” he teased, then stood up to go high five Bobbi, who turned in the pilot’s seat to hug him in congratulations._ _

__~_ _

__The first thing Mack did when he got back to the base was ask to see his son. When they took him to the medical lab, his eyes locked on the make-shift warming cot and the little bundle inside of it. He walked up to the cot and looked in, overcome by an overwhelming sense of joy when he saw the sweet little face looking up at him._ _

__Dr. Parker walked over and smiled. “You’ve got a healthy boy there,” he greeted, and Mack leaned over the side of the cot, looking as closely at the baby’s face as possible. “He’s just over seven pounds. So he’s not premature, which is more than we could’ve hoped for in his case. He still had a couple of weeks to go, but he’s big enough to hold his heat well. We’ve just got him in here since it’s so cold underground like this.” He nodded. “Michael’s a strong boy.”_ _

__Mack’s breath caught and he looked up at the doctor in wonder. “Fitz named him Michael?” he asked softly and the doctor nodded. Mack reached slowly down, hesitating, before finally touching Michael’s sleeping little face. “Hello there, Michael. I’m your daddy,” he whispered, voice cracking a bit as tears blurred his vision. He trailed a fingertip along his pudgy little cheek and immediately found it incredible how small his baby was. One of his fingers was bigger than Michael’s little hand. He let out a weak sound, oh so gently trailing his fingers down Michael’s tiny little body. “I love you more than anything I’ve ever known,” he whispered, and he knew the moment the words left his lips that he had never been surer about anything in his entire life. He chuckled. “The most important person in my whole life is little enough to fit in my hand.”_ _

__“You can pick him up and hold him,” Dr. Parker pointed out. “It’ll wake him up, but all babies that little do are eat and sleep, so he can catch up,” he joked._ _

__Mack had been around Kiara when she was born, so he knew how to handle babies, meaning that he didn’t need any help carefully picking Michael up. As promised, Michael whimpered and whined at being picked up, but Mack just shushed him as he carefully lifted him to hold in his arms. Michael let out a few whining cries as Mack got him situated against his chest, holding him with one arm while he adjusted his blankets with the other. Michael blinked his little eyes open and Mack beamed as he looked up at him. “Look at you! You’ve got blue eyes just like Fitz.” He chuckled as he stroked a finger across his little forehead. “Bald as your daddy, though. Poor thing.” He looked at his face with unbridled attention to detail. He had some pretty thick eyelashes for a newborn, especially as bald as his little head was. “You’re gonna be just as pretty as Fitz, won’t you, Son? Beautiful thing like him, of course he’d give me a beautiful baby.” He leaned down and kiss Michael._ _

__Mack wasn’t sure how long he held Michael, just looking at him until long after he’d fallen back asleep._ _

__~_ _

__When Mack went to check on Fitz, he found out he was asleep, so he decided to put that off and go make another very important stop instead. When he got to Coulson’s office, it was pretty late, but he was still there. Coulson looked up when he knocked and gestured him in. “Mack, what can I do for you? Everything okay with the baby?” he asked and Mack couldn’t help the warm smile that crossed his lips._ _

__“He’s great,” he said, coming to sit down. He took a breath and spoke slowly, unsure of how to start. “Look, Sir… I know that you need all your best right now. Things are still pretty tight.” He smiled sadly. “Fitz is going to try to resign so he can take care of Michael.” He shook his head. “He won’t want to, he loves his job. SHIELD is his life. But he will never trust a stranger with Michael. The tests all say he’s human, but if there was even the slightest chance that he might change some day and it could put him in danger, Fitz would never forgive himself for not keeping him. Putting him up for adoption was never going to be an option and Fitz knew it deep down a long time ago,” he said solemnly._ _

__Coulson nodded sadly. “Yeah, I figured he was putting it off but would end up quitting. It’s blow, that’s for sure, because when it comes to what he does, nobody else holds a candle, not even you.” He shrugged. “I guess I’ll have to learn to get SHIELD by without the best engineer I’ve ever known.”_ _

__“Which is why I’m formally giving you my notice,” Mack said, and Coulson’s eyes widened. He smiled sadly. “Fitz has given his whole life to SHIELD. He is devoted to you more than anybody else except maybe Daisy. SHIELD needs Fitz way more than it needs me, and the only way he’ll stay is if I go.”_ _

__Coulson stared. “Are you sure? I mean, you’ve really come into your own recently, are you really willing to throw that all away?”_ _

__“Hell yeah,” Mack said, laughing incredulously. “Sir, I mean this with respect, but I never wanted to be a goddamn field agent. You knew from the start I hate this shit. All this field work is sooo not what I signed up for. Hell, I hate guns!” he added. “I wanted to be a mechanic, sir. I joined SHIELD as an engineer because I can fix things and I wanted to travel. The only reason I got promoted to the Iliad is because the guy I was dating convinced me to apply there when he got assigned there.” Mack chuckled, grinning. “Trust me, I’ve stuck around because there was no compelling reason to leave you shorthanded. But now I have a good reason.” He sat back some. “Sir, I’m middle aged. I’m forty-two years old. I’ve been over the ‘adventure’ of SHIELD for a long time, now.” He smiled warmly as he pictured Michael in his arms. “I got a hell of a lot better ideas about how I wanna spend the rest of my life. I’ve got a son. Unlike most of all y’all, I’ve got a pretty big family. I’ve got parents and siblings and a niece and a son.” He nodded. “So yes, Sir. I’m resigning my post and becoming a full time father.”_ _

__Coulson looked him over, holding his eyes for a while, before he nodded. “Sounds like a good idea, Mack. If I had a chance to do it over again, I’d have probably liked to quit and have a family, too.”_ _

__Mack grinned. “Oh trust me, between Daisy, Simmons, and Fitz, you have plenty of kids, Coulson,” he said and Coulson grinned._ _

__“Well, I do my best,” he said, then turned to his computer. “Well, I better start drawing up the paperwork then.”_ _

__Mack nodded. “You do that, I’m gonna go see about Fitz. I’ll be back once I see how he’s doing,” he promised as he stood up and turned to leave the room. He didn’t know how Fitz would take it, but he was pretty sure it would be positive._ _

__~_ _

__Fitz was awake and sitting with Michael when Mack came to find him. Fitz looked up from holding Michael and beamed at Mack. “Have you seen him yet?” he asked eagerly, and Mack nodded, coming to sit on the couch beside him, careful not to jostle them._ _

__“Yeah, when I got home I held him a little while,” he said, and Fitz turned to meet his eyes._ _

__“I’m really glad you made it back in one piece. Wouldn’t do to have us both down,” he said, and Mack could tell Fitz looked exhausted._ _

__Mack gently plucked at a curl. “How you feeling, Turbo?”_ _

__Fitz grimaced. “Like I got cut open and got my insides moved around,” he said bluntly. He sighed, dropping his head to Mack’s shoulder. “They want me to walk around a bit and shit, even on the painkillers it hurts moving when your _stitched together_ at the waist.”_ _

__Mack frowned, looking at Michael. “Should you be holding him if you hurt that much?” he asked, and Fitz nodded._ _

__“Yeah, I can pick him up and hold him, but that’s about it.” Fitz smiled down at Michael. “Hope you don’t mind the name.”_ _

__“I like it,” Mack reassured. “Good, solid name. Nothing silly like Leopold or Alphonso,” he teased and Fitz nodded. Mack reached over and stroked Michael’s little palm, smiling when he closed his hand around Mack’s fingertip. “He’s so beautiful, just like you,” Mack murmured and Fitz blushed, rolling his eyes._ _

__“Shut it-“_ _

__“It’s only true,” Mack continued, leaning in to kiss his temple. “Gorgeous man that you are, of course you give me a beautiful little boy.” Mack looked at Fitz, taking in the serene expression on his face. “Baby, we need to talk about something,” he said, reluctant to take that look off of Fitz, but knowing they had to talk._ _

__Fitz sighed, closing his eyes. “I know. I don’t want to quit SHIELD, Mack, I love this, but I can’t give him up,” he stressed. “If I give him away, I’ll probably never see him again, and I love him so much. And if something happens and he’s not totally human, who knows what’ll happen to him? I’ve lived with Daisy for so long, I know what people do when they find out someone’s different, even if they loved them before-“_ _

__“You can stay with SHIELD,” Mack interrupted, curling his hand around Fitz’s as he waved it around. He pulled his fingers to his lips and kissed them when Fitz gave him a confused look._ _

__“What? No, listen, I _can’t_ -“_ _

__“You can, because I already signed my resignation papers,” Mack said, and Fitz’s eyes widened._ _

__“What?! Mack, I can’t ask you- for fucks sake, you were director for a bit- you have so much-“_ _

__Mack chucked, kissing him to cut him off. “I have a son that I wouldn’t see put up for adoption for nothing, I have a family to support me, and I’ve got a lot more miles on me in this job than anybody else besides May or Coulson.” He smiled sadly. “You love SHIELD. It’s your life. You are better for SHIELD, too.” He nodded his head to the side. “You stay and I’ll take Michael and be the full time father.”_ _

__Fitz opened and closed his mouth a few times. “But- but SHIELD without you-“_ _

__“Will be the same thing you did for years,” Mack reassured. He kissed his forehead. “I’ll miss seeing you every day, but this doesn’t have to mean… I mean, we can still be us, right? If you had taken Michael and left, you wouldn’t mean to break up with me, too, right?” He smiled. “Even SHIELD agents get time off to see their families.”_ _

__Fitz bit his lip. “But- but I wouldn’t see you often. Why would you want to stay with me?”_ _

__Mack frowned, brow wrinkling. “Because I love you?” he asked, and Fitz looked away. Mack’s eyes widened. “Baby, did you think I wouldn’t want to be with you if you left?” he asked, and Fitz shrugged._ _

__“It’s one thing to love someone, it’s another to try and make a relationship work-“_ _

__“Fitz, I’ve never had a bad relationship in my life,” he stressed. “Every ex I’ve got was an amicable split. I would never break up with you because you chose our baby over your job. We have a _child_ together, Fitz. That’s a damn good reason to stay in communication, don’t you think?” he asked, and Fitz smiled hopefully._ _

__“Yeah, I guess so.” He looked at Michael, sighing. “You think we can do this, Mack? Have a family long distance?”_ _

__Mack nodded confidently. “Hell yeah, Fitz. We won’t see each other as much, and I hate that so much, but we can still see each other pretty damn often. And we can talk even more often than that. Michael means we’d have to stay in contact a lot anyways.”_ _

__Fitz chuckled, looking down at Michael. “Good thing I picked a name that goes well with your last name rather than mine, then.” He looked up at Mack. “If you’re going to be a full time father, best we name him Michael Mackenzie, not Michael Fitz.”_ _

__Mack raised an eyebrow. “You sure?” he asked, and Fitz nodded, giving him a sweet smile._ _

__“Who knows,” he added with a nervous smile. “Maybe one day it’ll be my last name, too.”_ _

__Mack’s heart leapt at the implication, and even though it was far, _far_ to early to even consider something like that, the idea that Fitz actually considered marriage a possible future for them one day made Mack feel like he could fly. He couldn’t help it when he leaned in, arm around Fitz, and kissed him for all he was worth. He was careful not to jostle him and hurt his stitches, but other than that, he didn’t hold back from kissing Fitz with passion. Fitz moaned in surprise, but curled his free hand around Mack’s wrist, holding him there. It was only Michael whimpering that made them pull apart, but a quick look told them he just had knocked off his little hat and, in the underground chill, his ears were growing cold._ _

__Fitz picked the hat up off the chair where it’d landed and carefully put it back on Michael, grinning down at him. “Poor little bugger. Bald as I was when I was a child.”_ _

__Mack looked at the thick, curly hair on Fitz’s head and raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You were bald as a baby?”_ _

__Fitz snickered. “Oh, Mack, I was bald until I was about two!”_ _

__“I cannot imagine you without a headful of hair,” Mack teased. “I’d pictured you coming out of the womb with a mess of curly hair.”_ _

__Fitz just chuckled and leaned his head on Mack’s shoulder. “Hopefully Michael won’t end up being bald,” he said, smiling down at their baby. “Although, I think he looks quite a bit like you, so there’s no telling,” he added and Mack grinned and turned to kiss Fitz’s head._ _

__“I love you so much, Baby,” he murmured, and Fitz just smiled, glancing up at him only a moment before looking back at Michael._ _

__“I love you, too, Mack. I’m not sure I ever loved anybody before you. Not this way.” He snuggled closer to Mack. “I’m really glad you’re the father of my child, you know? I am so glad I had a baby with you, not anybody else.”_ _

__Mack nodded, looking down at Michael, who did, he realized, look a fair bit like him. “Me, too, Turbo. Me, too.”_ _

__~_ _

__**Epilogue: 12 months later** _ _

__Mack knelt down, letting Michael stand so he could fix his little collar. “Gotta look nice for Da, don’t we?” he asked, reaching up to brush his fingers through the tufty curls on top of his head. “He’s gonna be here real soon. Are you excited to see him?” he asked, and Michael grinned, his two little teeth showing._ _

__“Ya, Da!” he said, and Mack smiled, proud of how fast Michael was learning to talk. “_ _

__Mack stood up, scooping Michael up to carry him as he walked on towards the arrivals area. Rather than fly in from a quinjet to a random location, Fitz was flying commercial to come spend Michael’s first birthday with them. A lot had changed since they had gone their separate ways, but the way that they worked hard to keep their family as a family was not one of them._ _

__Mack had gotten a job as a mechanic part time, repairing parts for a local garage. He and Michael lived right across the street from his parents, and it wasn’t more than a train ride away for his sister to come see him with his niece, so Michael had a happy family situation. He stayed with his grandparents when his daddy was at work, his Aunt Serena and cousin Kiara came to visit a few times each month, and Fitz talked to them twice a week, without fair, over Skype. Fitz had only managed to come see them three times since Michael was born, but this time he was coming to spend a full two weeks with them, no matter what._ _

__Mack and Fitz were keeping things going. It was hard, being apart all the time, but since Mack was able to relate to Fitz’s job and understood why it was necessary, it was easier for them to handle the long distance. It was all the more easy that they both knew that, no matter what, they would never be able to fully drift apart since Michael meant they couldn’t just stop talking. For Mack and Fitz to stop talking, Fitz would have to stop talking to Michael, and that was never going to happen, so it was easier for them to keep things going._ _

__Michael was also growing like a weed, which made it even harder to dwell on Fitz not being around that often. Even though he was born with eyes as blue as Fitz’s, they ended up turning brown pretty quickly. They weren’t as dark as Mack’s, but they were brown, not blue. His hair, however, was almost blond. It wasn’t blond, it was a light brown color, almost like cocoa powder, but there were enough highlights that made it almost blond like Fitz’s dark blond hair. While his skin was close to being as dark as Mack’s in spite of how pasty Fitz was, and he had more of Mack’s features, there was no doubt his adorable little chubby cheeks hid some very Fitz-like cheekbones. Not to mention, his ears stuck out the same way Fitz claimed his had as a child. Or in his words, “Poor thing, he’s going to be twenty-two before he grows into them, same as me, oh no.”_ _

__Mack loved that he was a mix of both his parents, because Mack thought he was definitely the most beautiful kid in the world, and it only made sense with Fitz being his other father, because Mack wasn’t sure he’d ever seen a more beautiful man than Fitz before._ _

__Mack was looking up at the arrivals board, trying to find Fitz’s flight and see what the holdup was, when Michael squealed and started smacking him in the chest. “DA! DAAA!” Mack looked around and beamed when he saw Fitz coming towards them. Michael had seen him first, and when Mack started walking that way, Fitz saw them and a big smile spread across his face before he broke into a run._ _

__“Michael!” Fitz slid to a stop, already reaching for Michael. Mack let him pull him out of his arms and then curled his arms around both of them, smiling down at the way Fitz was clinging to Michael. Michael just smacked Fitz’s hair and giggled. “Oh God I’ve missed you both,” Fitz choked out, and Mack’s smile softened as Fitz looked up at him, blinking back tears. “Mack,” he choked out and Mack cupped his cheek, brushing a tear from his eye._ _

__“Hey, Turbo,” he greeted. Fitz laughed and reached up to curl a hand around the back of his neck, dragging him down into a kiss that continued until Michael said, “Ew!” making them both laugh and pull apart._ _

__“Oh, kissing Daddy is ew?” Fitz asked, looking at him. “What if I kiss you?” he asked, then started pressing kisses all over Michael’s face, making him squeal and swat at Fitz. “Nooo, you’re my little boy, I’ve gotta cover you in kisses!” he teased, tickling Michael as he kissed him all over until Michael was a giggling, squirming mess in his arms._ _

__Mack pulled back some and slid his hand to Fitz’s back, nudging him so they could start walking. He picked up the bag Fitz had tossed aside when he got to them and carried it for him while he carried Michael. “I’ve missed you, Baby,” Mack said and Fitz just bumped his shoulder into Mack’s side._ _

__“Good thing I’m here now, then.” He hefted Michael playfully. “Just me and ma boys,” he added and Mack smirked, pressing a kiss to the top of his head._ _

__“C’mon, let’s go home.”_ _


End file.
